A short, honest guide to Aurora daycare.
Aurora is the third-largest city in Colorado and the most demographically diverse metro in the Front Range. Daycare tuition runs a touch below Denver proper, but the eastern Aurora boom — Southlands, Saddle Rock, Tollgate Crossing, and the corridors around the Anschutz Medical Campus — has pushed infant pricing into a higher band than many families expect. Colorado has the youngest universal preschool program in the country, and Aurora families with four-year-olds stand to benefit substantially.
Colorado Universal Preschool (UPK)
Launched in the 2023-2024 school year, Colorado's Universal Preschool Program (UPK) guarantees at least 15 hours per week of free, mixed-delivery preschool to every four-year-old Colorado resident in the year before kindergarten, regardless of family income. Families that meet qualifying factors — income at or below 270 percent of the federal poverty level, dual-language learners, IEPs, homelessness, or foster care — receive additional hours and may qualify for full-day seats. Aurora families apply through the state UPK portal and can rank a mix of community providers, Aurora Public Schools sites, and Cherry Creek School District sites. Read our Colorado UPK walkthrough.
Source: Colorado Department of Early Childhood, UPK enrollment report, 2024-2025 cycle. Approximately 70 percent of four-year-old Coloradans enrolled in UPK in 2024-2025, with the highest participation in mixed-delivery community settings.
Colorado Shines quality rating
Colorado Shines is the statewide quality rating and improvement system administered by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. Centers and family child care homes are rated from Level 1 (licensed) through Level 5 (highest quality). Providers participating in UPK must hold at least a Level 2 rating, and CCCAP-accepting providers face a similar floor. In our Aurora directory you can filter by Colorado Shines level.
Aurora Public Schools and Cherry Creek preschool
Aurora is split across two large school districts — Aurora Public Schools (APS) on the west and central side, and Cherry Creek School District covering the southeastern neighborhoods (Southlands, Saddle Rock, Heather Gardens, parts of Meadow Hills). Both deliver UPK at neighborhood elementaries and partner community sites, with priority enrollment for families inside the attendance area. Combined with a part-time community daycare, a UPK seat can take a meaningful chunk off the annual childcare bill for four-year-olds.
Colorado licensing and ratios
Colorado Department of Early Childhood rule 2 CCR 502-1 sets child care center ratios at 1:5 for infants under twelve months, 1:5 for toddlers twelve to eighteen months, 1:7 for two-year-olds, 1:8 for two-and-a-half-year-olds, 1:10 for three-year-olds, and 1:12 for four- and five-year-olds. Every licensed daycare in Colorado is regulated by the Office of Early Childhood Licensing. Every provider in our Aurora directory is cross-checked against the licensing database monthly, and we flag any active citations.
Where Aurora parents tend to overpay
- Southlands, Saddle Rock, and Anschutz premium infant centers when a Colorado Shines Level 4 program in Original Aurora, Centretech, or Aurora Hills runs $500 to $700 less per month.
- Add-on enrichment fees (Spanish, music, STEM) marketed as optional but priced into the standard week.
- Paying full freight for a private preschool when UPK now provides at least 15 hours per week free for every four-year-old at participating community and school district sites.
- Skipping the licensed family child care home option without comparing prices — Aurora FCC homes typically run $400 to $700 less per month than centers, and many bilingual English-Spanish homes serve Centretech, East Colfax, and Original Aurora.
Financial help
In addition to UPK, working Aurora families with income up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level may qualify for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) through Arapahoe County Human Services or Adams County Human Services, depending on where they live. CCCAP pays providers directly at up to the 80th percentile of the regional market rate, and the application is the same across all 64 Colorado counties. All families can use the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, the Colorado Child Care Contribution Credit, and, if offered through work, a Dependent Care FSA. Our tax credit explainer walks through the math at common Aurora income levels.
Before your first tour, download the free DaycareSquare comparison checklist and the tour questions list.
